Grammy Awards Postponed until March

The 2021 Grammy Awards has been postponed due to concerns about coronavirus, say the organisers.

The ceremony, one of the largest awards in the music industry, was due to take place on 31 January.  

The event will now take place on 14 March, due to an increasing number of infections in Los Angeles and the state of California.

Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa led the nominations for this year’s awards, which were announced in November.

"Nothing is more important than the health and safety of those in our music community and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly on producing the show," said a statement from the Recording Academy, which runs the Grammys.

It is not clear whether the comedian Trevor Noah, who was set to host the show, will still be taking part in the ceremony this year.

According to the AFP News Agency, the organisation behind the awards had previously announced that this year's edition would be mostly virtual, although no further details had been released.

Many major awards ceremony have had to be held online since the pandemic hit the US last year.

The US state of California has been particularly hard hit by coronavirus spread, with ambulance workers in Los Angeles County being told not to transport patients with extremely low chances of survival to hospital.